Metzendorf-Woxdorf head burial

The skull funeral of Metz Village Woxdorf is a Neolithic burial part of a single human skull, which was found in Woxdorf, in the municipality of Seevetal in the Lower Saxon district of Harburg, 1958. The Fund is currently the only one of its kind of the single grave culture in Germany and is shown in the permanent archaeological exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Hamburg- Harburg.

Discovery

Even before the discovery of the skull funeral numerous archaeological finds were made due to the intensive agricultural land use in the vicinity. However, this reference was on a flat hilltop between two fields and has not been used for agriculture. The find came during leveling work for the water procurement Association Metz village to days when the topsoil of the hill for the construction of a line was drawn with a bulldozer. The workers noticed broken glass in the ground, presented her work at this point and reported the discovery of the Helms - Museum. In the subsequent excavation came in 30 cm depth a large, upside Stored giant cup -a-days, the vessel floor and wall was broken by the leveling work, this was placed over a foot shell in the inner were the remains of a single human skull. Location: 53 ° 24 ' 31.4 "N, 9 ° 57' 31.2 " O53.4087329.958667Koordinaten: 53 ° 24 ' 31.4 "N, 9 ° 57' 31.2 " E

Findings

The getöpferte from brown gray clay foot shell was placed on three smaller stones. It has a height of 105 mm, a diameter at the stand area of 83 mm and at the mouth of 207 mm. The wall of the bowl is decorated outside with about 23 mm long, irregular, parallel impressions of a comb-like stamp. The foot shell was filled two-thirds with humus soil, on which lay the skull. About this bowl of big giant cup was everted, the interior was intact before the discovery. The indented wall below the edge of the vessel was outside carefully edged with large stones. The giant cup consists of gray -brown to reddish-brown clay. It has a height of 425 mm, the diameter be at the stand about 97 mm, at the mouth of 240 mm and the largest width is 195-210 mm in height above the base with 265 mm. The shards of the damaged vessel bottom could not be found again. Below the edge of the vessel wall is decorated on the shoulder with an irregular row of small triangular grooves, the tip directed to bottom. The shape of the giant cup corresponds to the group of Bentheim type according to Karl Hermann Jacob -Friesen, although this vessel stands out because of its size. Wegewitz suspected in this giant cup a storage vessel. From the skull, the skull is preserved up to the ear bone, nasal bone, the facial skull and upper jaw are probably gone after the burial, the closed air space inside the large vessel favored the preservation of the skull as opposed to a storage in well-aerated sandy soil at the site. In the earthy filling of Fußschale few remains have been found of tooth enamel. Due to the small amount of suspected Wegewitz that at the funeral of the head was present only the upper jaw and lower jaw and cervical vertebrae that may have missed while laying down. The skull was most likely that of an adult man. Whether the funeral was sunk in a pit in the ground, or above ground was carried out could not be cleared from the excavation due to lack of soil discoloration. Likewise, it remains an open question whether it has been created in close proximity to or possibly over the past completely inhumation.

The funeral will be typologically dated due to the ceramic vessels found in the Neolithic period around 2200 BC

Interpretation

The partial burial of the skull, separated from his body is for the Neolithic northern Germany so far unique and suggests cultural influences from the early Bronze Age Bohemia, where such separate funerals of heads were used in ceramic vessels with the underlying buried bodies. Likewise, the use of giant cups of found in Woxdorf type is widely used there. Archaeological finds similar giant mug in Hanover Wendland along the Elbe support the thesis of cultural ties with Bohemia, but the vessels were always found without content in Wendland, so use as a funeral vessel seems unlikely here.